For generations, members of Congress haven’t just benefited from the power of incumbency when running for re-election, they’ve also been largely immune from bruising primary fights that end their careers.
But as is true in so many ways, this year is proving to be quite different. MS NOW reported:
Connecticut Rep. John Larson has been in the U.S. House since before the turn of the 21st century.
A lengthy career in a reliably blue district like this would normally become a safe path to continue serving in Congress. But not this year, when a growing anti-incumbent fervor seems to be gripping the country, dealing blows to Democratic House members and Republican senators alike during a bruising primary season.
Larson, who turned 78 years old last month, ended up losing to Luke Bronin, the former mayor of Hartford, who ran on a platform of generational change. It proved surprisingly effective: Bronin prevailed in a 21-point landslide.
For those keeping score, seven incumbent House Democrats — Al Green of Texas, Julie Johnson of Texas, Dan Goldman of New York, Adriano Espaillat of New York, Diana DeGette of Colorado, Shri Thanedar of Michigan and Larson — have all come up short in primaries since March. That said, it’s not an entirely one-sided phenomenon: Three House Republicans — Dan Crenshaw of Texas, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Andy Ogles of Tennessee — have also lost in recent GOP primaries.
Even two sitting U.S. senators — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas — have seen primary rivals end their career.
The explanations for the outcomes do not fall neatly along straight lines, though the sheer volume of primary losses got me thinking: When was the last time Americans saw results like these?
The answer is, it’s been a while. An NBC News tally found that if we exclude national redistricting years, when members of Congress often lose primaries to colleagues, more incumbents have lost primaries this election cycle than in any year since 1970.
What’s more, the cycle isn’t quite finished — over the next month, nine states will hold either primaries or primary runoff elections — which means the overall list might yet grow.
One thing is certain: Between the primary losses and the dozens of retirement announcements, the next Congress is poised to look quite different, no matter which party is in control.
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